How do you measure the tourists' attitudes?

Measure the attitudes in four levels:

  • Nominal: "A nominal variable has attributes that are merely different, as distinguished from ordinal, interval, or ratio measures" (Babbie 139)

  • Measure the Chinese tourists' attitudes with normal measurements?

Ordinal

  • "A level of measurement describing a variable with attributes we can rank- order along some dimension." (Babbie 140)

  • Measure the Chinese tourists' attitudes with normal measurements?

Interval

  • "A level of measurement describing a variable whose attributes are rank- ordered and have equal distances between adjacent attributes." (Babbie 140)

  • Measure the Chinese tourists' attitudes with normal measurements?

Ratio

  • "The attributes composing a variable, besides having all the structural characteristics mentioned previously, are based on a true zero point. " (Babbie 140)

  • Measure the Chinese tourists' attitudes with normal measurements?

Assumption behand the measurement levels

  • Nominal: only categorical differences, no intensity, no order.
  • Ordinal: equivalent differences between categories.
  • Interval: difference + order; not exactly how much different.
  • Ratio: values are homogeneous and can be calculated.

Exercise: Measuring states' capacity

  • Definition?
  • Which type of measure?
  • What is the benefit?
  • What information you might lose?
  • What risk are taking?

Measurement Validation

  • Precision
  • Reliability
  • Validity

Precision

  • Precision vs. reliability?

Reliability

Validity

  • "Valid measurement is achieved when scores (including the results of qualitative classification) meaningfully capture the ideas contained in the corresponding concept." (Adcock and Collier 2001, 530)

Precision, reliability, validity

Validity in depth

"Measurement is valid when the scores (level 4 in Figure 1), derived from a given indicator (level 3), can meaningfully be interpreted in terms of the systematized concept (level 2) that the indicator seeks to operationalize." (Adcock and Collier 2001, 531)

  • Content validation
  • Convergent validation
  • Constructive validation

Face validity

Microwave popcorn;
Light salad dressings;
Flavored fat-Free Yogurt;
Dried Fruit;
Blue corn chips;
Cereal;
……

Contextual specificity

"Do you like pizza?"

How does a measurement looks like?

Qualitative: Typology

Quantitative: Index vs. Scale